Summer

by Michael Fontanetta, 15

Where young kids experience their first taste of freedom, forgetting what school is even like or even what day it is. Besides the people lucky enough to have your birthday thrown in the middle of that golden season, then they spend weeks stressing over a party and hope that everyone can arrive along with praying that they leave happy at their hard work. 

Although after a few days they realize just how many bugs have awoken. How hot the sun can truly be, as all the poor kids lay in bed sweating, flipping a pillow over and over praying they can feel that cold relief for just a moment longer, so they can relax and put their sleep deprived bodies. Then kids grow into teens and experience what true freedom is with the house emptying out as you are trusted enough to be left alone. After a day or two of boredom these adventurers go out into the world, spending days away from home. Going through relationships and friendships as they bend and break, with all nighters becoming every nighters as they experience happiness, fear and adrenaline all in one but no matter what almost everyone will always feel disappointed once it’s all over. 

People say school affects your mental health but personally that dread of summer being over can have a bigger impact than that mindless schedule. Then you grow and life occurs, always finding ways to ruin that relief and breather that summer is supposed to provide. Instead it hits 

ten times harder as without piles of work to cover up an emotion, all you’re left with is that feeling exploding within. Whether that’s happiness or sadness, relief or regret. You truly who’s a real friend and who is a “School Friend” as those supposed summer plans fall apart more than once. But you don’t see them every day so you wonder if it’s really failed plans or a failed analysis on who really cares about you. Or maybe Summer impacts me because of the loss of brothers and uncles or just of people I appreciated. 

See, it’s easy to push aside this trauma in the name of education or whatever schools are supposed to teach you. Then summer comes and that freedom and time turns into a curse as you confront those memories and begin to wonder if you can even handle them all at once, although eventually you’ll overcome them like always. Who knew more work could actually help someone’s mental health? Maybe summer school or summer jobs are worth all those stressful sweat and tears.

Red Bank, New Jersey